Zelenskyy says Poklad and Klymenko were not involved in corruption linked to Carthage case

"You could have verified that neither Klymenko nor Vyhivskyi nor Poklad personally had anything to do with this. I know this from law enforcement officials and anti-corruption investigators. I spoke with all of them several times. This is a very unpleasant, deeply troubling situation. But there is an investigation, and I support it," Zelenskyy said.

He also denied that Servant of the People parliamentary faction leader Davyd Arakhamia and Health Minister Viktor Liashko were involved in the corruption schemes.

The president announced personnel changes amid the investigation into corruption schemes within law enforcement agencies.

Zelenskyy also said the activities of the Khimprom drug cartel must be completely shut down, including in other countries. He called for cooperation with intelligence agencies from partner countries, particularly the United States.

"They [people linked to Khimprom] have already entered Poland and are trying to expand into Germany. That's what we discussed, and that's what our intelligence reports indicate. Where else are they operating? I don't know. But they should not be operating anywhere. I am convinced that these activities are certainly not taking place without the support of intelligence services, and not only Russian ones," Zelenskyy said.

On Nov. 4, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) announced that it had uncovered new details in the Carthage case. Recordings were released featuring former and current officials from the National Police, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Prosecutor General's Office.

In the recordings, members of the alleged criminal group discussed call center operations, bribes to senior law enforcement officials and the involvement of others in a drug trafficking scheme, potentially including ministers Klymenko and Liashko.

That same day, SBU Gen. Serhiy Duka, National Police officials Volodymyr Tsenov and Oleksandr Demianchuk, and boxing club founder Vitaliy Rybalka were detained.

On Nov. 5, NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) announced that five suspected members of the group had been formally notified of suspicion. The detained suspects were remanded in custody.

On Nov. 13, Duka was released from pretrial detention after the full bail amount of 65 million hryvnias was posted.